Philippines Dismisses 1990 Letter on Scarborough Shoal

Manila, Philippines - The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday dismissed a 1990 diplomatic letter circulated by the Chinese Embassy in Manila as lacking authenticity and value, reaffirming the country's longstanding sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal amid renewed tensions in the South China Sea dispute.

The embassy posted the document on Facebook on March 14, presenting it as evidence that the Philippines once acknowledged the shoal, known locally as Bajo de Masinloc and by China as Huangyan Island, fell outside its territorial boundaries. The letter, dated February 2, 1990, from then-Philippine Ambassador to Germany Bienvenido Tan Jr. to German amateur radio operator Dieter Löffler, stated that according to the Philippine National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, the shoal did not lie within the archipelago's territorial sovereignty as defined by the 1898 Treaty of Paris. It noted the feature was about 10 miles beyond the treaty's boundary line but within the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson for maritime affairs Rogelio Villanueva Jr. responded during a press briefing on March 16, saying...